| The Administrative Services Division coordinates the South Carolina Department of Agriculture's operations. Administrative Services includes payroll, finance, auditing, budgeting, procurement, supply, mailing, information technology, fixed assets and management. The Administrative Services Division provides support functions to the agency and is organized into three offices: Agency Services, Finance Services, and Information Technology.
Agency Services has the sole responsibility for issuance of purchase orders to obtain goods and services for the Department. In addition, the support group focuses on paying vendors in a timely and efficient manner. A procedure manual is strictly followed, and all Department employees are urged to plan ahead to obtain goods and services in a timely manner. Agency Services also oversees the management of all of the agency's resources such as supplies, space management, fleet management, inventory, and telephone services as well as the mailroom which is responsible for receiving and sending all mail, including express mail and freight services.
Finance Services is required to promptly process all receipts of revenue and expenditures of the Department and maintain accounting records of these transactions consistent with state laws, regulations, and objectives of the Department and generally accepted accounting principles. Finance Services requires at least five working days to complete all transactions. The staff focuses on paying vendors in a timely manner and on depositing incoming checks in a reasonable time frame. The employees of Finance Services have various job functions and are able to work with limited supervision.
Information Technology (IT) oversees the evaluation, implementation, maintenance, programming, support, and approval of all agency computer hardware and software. Information Technology is an area of Support Services designed to keep the computer resources of the SCDA in line with the technology of other state agencies and private industry in order to provide an efficient work environment. The current computer network includes an 80 user LAN and an AS/400. IT services are also provided to stand-alone personal computer users at six sites across the state. The services provided include the writing and maintaining custom software for in-house use, the purchase of pre-packaged software, purchase of hardware, user training, and maintenance in the form of in-house repairs and maintenance agreements.
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